Food writer Lydia Walshin collects and shares the very best soup, stew and chili recipes on the web.

May 10, 2014

Since 2010, we've made a lot of soups, shared a lot of recipes, and found the courage to toss whatever we have in the pantry into the stockpot, slow cooker or pressure cooker, secure in the knowledge that soup will emerge.

Now it's time for me to lug my Dutch oven, containers of frozen stock, and ladles back into The Perfect Pantry® kitchen, where I spend most of my time.

I know that many of you also follow The Perfect Pantry, and I've always posted my original soup recipes there. I'll keep doing that, so please sign up for email updates if you don't already get them. I post soup recipes all year round, along with other recipes that combine what I have in my pantry with fresh ingredients from the markets and farm stands.

This site will remain available, so you can always dig into the archives to find any of the soup recipes, by using the search box on the right. Just type in the ingredient or recipe you'd like to find. Many of my original recipes (you can find them under The Big List of Soups, above) also have made an appearance on The Perfect Pantry, and many more will hop over there.

May 3, 2014

It's said that bacon makes everything better, but when it comes to soup, a little bit of pasta makes everything better. You can use any shape, any size from tiny ditallini to the largest noodles (as evidence by this great lasagna soup, from Framed Cooks), mix and match from your leftover pasta jar. Just a handful of pasta will help thicken and enrich vegetable soups, create a satisfying mouth feel without any meat at all, and stretch a small amount of soup into a meal for a crowd.

April 26, 2014

For people who cannot eat dairy products, coconut milk can be a lifesaver. In soups like this unusual black bean soup with coconut and cilantro, from Apron Strings, coconut milk brings its creamy richness to balance the earthy texture of the beans. Many cuisines rely on coconut milk, including Thai, Indian, and Jamaican, so there's a lot to choose from when you're making soup.